AMID raging controversy in India over visa for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, the US on Wednesday (July 24) refused to commit whether he would be granted permission to travel to America.
The State Department also parried questions on what the US would do if Modi becomes prime minister.
It maintained that Modi was welcome to apply for a visa which would be considered, but its policy has not changed.
"If chief minister Modi applies for a visa, his application would be considered to determine whether he qualifies for a visa, in accordance with US immigration law and policy," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference.
"Our policy on this has not changed," she said when asked about granting visa to Modi.
The US has reservations over granting a visa to Modi because of human rights violations in 2002 post-Godhra riots under his
watch as the chief minister.
When questioned by an Indian journalist about Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh's campaign for a visa for Modi and the US stance if Modi became the prime minister, Psaki said, 'There is lots of speculation down the road. We encourage democratic elections. We don't take sides. We will be watching it closely.'
The journalist also asked how the US would treat Modi as the prime minister.
"I think I just said we will consider his application if he applies, and I'm not going to get ahead of where we are at this time,' she said.
Psaki added, "But as you know, we don't talk about the specifics of that process or individual cases, but he would, of course, be considered if he were to apply."
The State Department's remarks came as the visiting BJP president Singh was winding up his three-day hectic visit to Washington, during which he met a host of US lawmakers, think tanks and academicians.
Singh told the Indian-American media here that he did not raise the issue of Modi's visa with the US.
"This is not our issue. This is an issue for the US administration to consider," he said.
Responding to a question, Singh said Modi is a "very very" popular leader of the country.
The State Department's remarks also came amid controversy over 65 MPs writing to US President Barack Obama to maintain the current policy of denying a visa to Modi.
BJP has demanded a probe into the matter.
